Senate leadership is eager to bring the House-passed Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 to the floor this week before members leave for recess Aug. 2. But with multiple GOP members still reportedly undecided and eight Democrats out of town this week for presidential debates, it is still unclear whether the votes are there to pass the two-year spending bill to avoid a potential continuing resolution or a return to sequestration.
The House last Thursday passed H.R. 3877, which would provide $738 billion for national defense in fiscal 2020 and $741.5 billion in 2021, as well as stave off the threat of sequestration returning for the last two years of spending caps as imposed by the 2011 Budget Control Act.
The bill passed the lower chamber by a vote of 284-149, with 66 Republicans voting for it and 16 Democrats voting against it. House leaders from both sides of the aisle pushed for the bill as a compromise solution that was the only chance of passing the Republican-led Senate, but as of Tuesday many senators, Republican and Democrat, remained on the fence.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, told reporters he would vote against the bill because it did not include structural reforms that would keep lawmakers from shutting down the government if they don’t reach a budget deal. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), also said he would vote against it.
Republicans including Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and John Kennedy (La.) had previously come out against the bill as well. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) declined to comment when asked Tuesday.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-Fla.), also a SASC member, said he would support the bill, because “We can’t stop the momentum we have started with our military funding, and we have a lot of catching up to do.”
